


Second Chances: Butterfly

by TheCrazyFriend



Series: Second Chances: Butterfly [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Interactive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2019-09-25 12:32:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17121431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrazyFriend/pseuds/TheCrazyFriend
Summary: Max goes back in time to fix it allReader choice. Read second chances: prologue before reading. Storyline three of three





	1. Bathroom

“You own this school, you could blow it up if you wanted to...” A young man was stood in the center of the bathroom  
_Prescott_  
The door to the bathroom opened again and a blue haired girl, “did you check the perimeter?”  
_Chloe... No..._ Max was hidden in her corner behind the stalls, slumped against the wall of the toilet stall hugging her knees  
“You got hella cash” Max peeked around the edge of the stalls she was hidden behind and saw her blue-haired ex-best friend getting up in Nathan's face  
_Chloe, leave, please!_ Max found herself silently begging Chloe  
“Don't tell me what to do!! I am fed up of people telling me what to do!!” Nathan was was up in Chloe's face, a gun in her gut  
“What the hell are you doing?! Get that gun away from me, psycho!!” Chloe was no longer the badass punk, she was just a scared young woman being threatened by a madman with a gun. _Please, don't let me die here, I don't wanna die in a bathroom!!_  
To Max, everything seemed to slow down. Even though she didn't make the conscious choice, she found herself on her feet and yelling to get Nathan's attention. “Nathan!! Nathan, stop!!” Max screamed.  
Nathan spun around in shock and his finger squeezed the trigger in surprise. 

**BANG!!**

“What the fuck?!” Upon hearing a shout and seeing a flurry of movement out of the corner of her eye, Chloe spun around and saw a brunette girl fall gracefully with a small red stain spreading rapidly from the left side of her chest. “Holy shit!!” Chloe exclaimed, she ran at Nathan and punched him as hard as she could to knock him out. Nathan groaned and immediately dropped down out cold. “Holy shit!” Chloe yelled again, moving to the downed brunette

Between the pained breathing and groans of pain, Chloe just about managed to catch a single hissed word amidst her pained hissing. “Chloe” Max spluttered the single word out, blood bubbling in the corner of her mouth  
“What?!” Chloe moved the girl's arm since it had landed across her face and as a result was concealing it. Chloe froze in fear, immediately recognizing the girl’s face and beautiful blue eyes even though she hadn't seen her for five years. “Max!!” Chloe immediately teared up and pressed her hand on Max's bloodied shirt, trying to stop her losing any more blood. _No! No! No!_

The door slammed open and Chloe jumped into the air, spinning around half expecting Nathan to jump her again. “Chloe?!” David Madsen stood in the doorway, a look of shock on his pale face  
“Step-shit!!” Chloe exclaimed, “He... He shot her...” Chloe was rambling, tears running down her face. “He... He shot M...Max” Chloe's hand was still pressed firmly on Max's chest in an effort to stop the bleeding.  
“Nathan shot Max? Maxine Caulfield?” David moved closer to the worryingly still body. He placed his finger on her neck and moments later he shook her head. “I'm sorry, Chloe” David sighed, his head bowed  
“Sorry?”  
“She’s...”  
“No, no she can't be dead!!” Chloe shouted, enraged  
“I'm sorry, Chloe” David sighed. Even though Chloe had been attempting to stop Max's bleeding, she hadn't been able to stop the internal bleeding and most of Max's blood was sloshing around in her chest from a tear in her artery.  
“No, Max!! Max!! Max!!!” Chloe screamed her agony


	2. Dorms

Chloe had barely been aware of anything that had happened since the incident in the bathroom, her mind was still stuck in that moment where the brunette girl had fallen gracefully. “Chloe?” The voice snapped Chloe out of her thoughts even though the knock had gone unnoticed  
“What do you want, Icky Vicky?” Chloe looked up and her eyes narrowed at the newcomer who had poked her head around the door  
“Oh...” Victoria looked surprised and upset by Chloe's reaction. “Chloe...?”  
“What!?”  
“I know we haven't ever seen eye to eye, but I'm sorry for your loss... Max was a wonderful person”  
“Really? I thought you hated her!”  
“I... I guess I was jealous”  
“The Queen Bitch, jealous?” Chloe was surprised. She had snuck into Max's dorm room the day of Max's death after the police had taken pictures of everything and taken Max's laptop and nobody, not even Victoria had the heart to kick her out or tell faculty she was there, not even several days after Max was murdered  
“Yeah... Listen, Chloe, I'm not heartless.” Chloe scoffed, “yeah, I guess you're right, I kinda am. But I don't want to be heartless anymore”  
“Really?” Chloe was slightly disbelieving. She pulled Max's journal out of a drawer where it had been hidden under every piece of hippie clothing the brunette had owned  
“What's that, Chloe?” Victoria's eyebrow had risen  
“Max's journal”  
“That I can see”  
“I wasn’t finished, Victoria. It’s her diary from the week that never was”  
“ _The week that never was?_ Chloe, what the fuck are you talking about?”  
“I'll sound crazy. But Max was a time traveler, it'll prove itself to you eventually. It was how...” Chloe paused and her voice wavered slightly, “How they found Rachel”  
“Rachel is alive?!”  
“No, I'm afraid not. Vic, Rachel was killed... By Nathan and Jefferson”  
“What?! No way, Nathan... Well, I don't think I know him very well anymore but Jefferson?!”  
“Sorry, Vic”  
Victoria backed off slightly. “What you're saying is crazy”  
“I know... But more of the journal I read the more it made sense. Max was in the bathroom with me and Nathan and she knew exactly when to...” Chloe looked away sadly  
“When to intervene?” Victoria finished  
“Yeah, that”  
“I bet Jefferson skipped town the moment Rachel's body was found,” Chloe continued, “fortunately, I was able to leave an anonymous note to tell the cops about Rachel and who was really behind it. I even wore gloves.” _Guess all that CSI crap came in handy after all_  
Victoria stood up. “So let's get this straight, you’re saying that Maxine Caulfield, the shy hipster bit... nerd was a _time traveler_? A time traveler who decided to sacrifice _you_ , her best friend and the girl she loved to save a town that always has been a pile of shit?”  
“Uh huh”  
“You’re fucking crazy, Chloe”  
“Yup yup, I'm fucking insane in the brain!!” Chloe replied with a laugh  
“Very much so... So now you've told me about it, you gonna shoot me?” Victoria replied, half joking  
“Only if you betray me” Chloe replied, deadly serious  
“Why did you trust me with this?” Victoria whispered, scared of the answer  
“Because you're a bitch with no real friends,” Victoria was about to complain so Chloe continued, dropping the biggest bombshell yet on Victoria. “Since you bullied Max and recorded that video of Kate”  
Victoria’s smile faded, “how the hell did you know all that?!” _Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_  
Chloe held up the journal. “All in here, Icky Vicky”  
“Stop calling me that!!”  
“Nope. You are Icky since you pushed Kate to attempt suicide in the other timeline”  
“WHAT?!” Victoria exclaimed then slumped backward on to Max's bed and stared blankly at the other wall

“Chloe?” a voice echoed through the locked door  
“Yeah, I'm in here”  
Victoria looked up quickly, her eyes wide with fear, she shook her head slightly, pleading with Chloe. _No, I'm not ready, please_  
“You can come in, Kate, it’s not locked”  
_Bitch_


	3. Kate

The door opened and Kate froze up in barely concealed panic at the sight of Victoria slumped on the floor. After a few moments, the panic faded into concern and Kate moved to sit in front of Victoria. “Victoria? What's wrong?”  
“Oh, me and Icky Vicky here had to discuss a few things” Chloe's tone made it clear she was unwilling to even suggest what those things were but Victoria... She just looked broken, with tears running silently down both cheeks. It was the quiet sort of crying, the terrible sort that was silent but unstoppable  
“Chloe I hope you weren't being too mean to Victoria...” she scolded  
“Kate” Victoria surprised Chloe by speaking, “don't... I deserve it, all of it. What Chloe told me had made me think about the kind of person I want to be, or rather the kind of person I don't want to be. It was important that I heard those scathing comments”

_Ping_. Chloe slipped her hand down the side of her bed and pulled out a cheap phone that had been stuffed there when Victoria had knocked on her door. “How about that?” Chloe commented with a raised eyebrow. “A text from Arcadia Bay Police Department: your tip-off regarding missing person’s case blah blah... Has led to the discovery of Ms. Amber’s body” Chloe teared up, “in American Rust”  
“Chloe?” Victoria’s voice was gentler than it has been before  
“Her body was there... In American Rust” her eyes darted towards the journal which she had been showing Victoria, the exact page on which the location of Rachel's body was clearly stated right down to the GPS coordinates, the proof had been right in front of the pixie blonde’s face not ten minutes before Kate entered the room  
Victoria's eyes widened in realization. “Holy shit!!”  
“Language, Victoria”  
“You'd swear too if you had just realized what I just realized”  
“Yeah thanks to that little book, Jeffershit's creepy dark room now has cops crawling all over it, I've paid off my debts to Frank in full, my missing angel has been found and you are still safe from the horrors within, Victoria... All it... All it took was my best friend to die with barely one word whispered to me between pained gasps and bubbles of blood!!”  
“Chloe...” Victoria moved closer to the blunette and wrapped her arms around her. Chloe, to both Victoria and Kate’s surprise, accepted the affection at least without resistance if not somewhat eagerly. _How long has it been since someone gave you a hug, Chloe?_ Victoria found the unexpectedly caring thought fill her mind. _What is wrong with me?!_  
“Wait... What do you mean _dark room_?” Kate had interrupted the conversation with a question that led both the other girls to look at each other in dread  
“In for a dime, in for a dollar” Chloe murmured apprehensively. _Fuck it!!_ “Kate, there are things you don't understand at play here...” She began  
“Are you sure?” Victoria inquired in a subdued voice, a voice that was almost terrified  
“Kate deserves to know what happened” Chloe replied, “all of it”  
“Fine, I guess”  
“Uh, what are you talking about?”

“Firstly you need to know that Max wanted me to have that journal... She handed it to me as she said my name...”  
Kate was baffled. She wasn't like Max or Chloe, she wouldn't dream of looking through someone else’s private journal, even with their permission. “What's so special about Max's diary?”  
“Oh, Kate,” Chloe sighed, “ _everything_ ”  
Kate was even more confused so Victoria smiled at her, “why don't we get some tea then Chloe can explain the whole thing to both of us?”  
“Fine...”  
“Just ponder this, Kate” Chloe had a solemn smile on her face, “what do you think about _time travel_?”  
_What the fuck? Time travel? Is Chloe delusional?_ Kate thought to herself


	4. Events that Never Happened

“What the fuck are you doing?! You can't come in here without a warrant, asshole!”  
“Mr. Prescott. Your signature was found on paperwork, a contract to build a vault in a basement below a building that you own. A vault where incredibly disturbing evidence has been found, evidence incriminating not only Mark Jefferson but your son and yourself as well”  
“What in god's name are you talking about?”  
“The bunker that you commissioned”  
“Yes, my colleague is correct. Now you are under arrest, for conspiracy to commit sexual assault and for potential involvement in the murder of Rachel Amber”  
“My lawyers are gonna fucking tear you pigs apart”  
_Like to see them try. We gotcha this time, Prick-scott_ Officer Berry thought to himself triumphantly

*****

“So...” Kate began awkwardly  
“Yeah...” Chloe, much to her chagrin, found she had nothing constructive to say, nothing that would break the awkward ice  
“ _Time travel_ ” Victoria piped up, still delicately holding her teacup despite having finished her tea  
“Yeah... That” Kate whispered  
“Well, I guess I'd better begin at the start, right?” Chloe took a deep breath as the girls nodded. “It all started last week, Max was in her photography class with you two and the creep...” she knew she need not say his name, that both of them would understand even with the limited information made available to the Blackwell community, “when she woke up from a horrific dream...” Victoria and Kate were quiet, contemplative. “She had this harrowing dream about a storm coming to destroy Arcadia Bay”  
“Yeah, I remember. Max seemed to be really shaken by whatever she dreamed...” Victoria spoke before Kate had the chance. _And I was a real bitch to her, as usual_  
“She was... She left the classroom and went to the bathroom...” Kate added  
“And that's the point where she was shot, right?” Victoria questioned, despite knowing better  
“Right...” Kate whispered  
“Wrong.” Chloe declared  
“Wrong?” The Christian girl parroted  
“Wrong. This” Chloe held up the journal, “spun an interesting tale of deaths, alternate realities, timebending”  
Victoria let out a little chuckle, “I never expected that to become the word for it”  
“Timebending?” Kate's brows were furrowed in complete confusion  
“It turns out our secret nerd Icky Vicky is a fan of Avatar”  
“Avatar?”  
“Yeah, it’s a cartoon” Chloe mumbled  
“It's so much more than that!” Victoria exclaimed in offence  
“Can we...?”  
“Uh anyway, we can do the whole Avatar discussion at another time” Chloe decided to put a stop to the tangent before it became too distracting, interrupting Kate before she could finish speaking  
“Right, yeah. You're right, time travel”

“The journal described how it differed, how she changed things. Like how Max was able to stop Nathan from shooting me with a fire alarm and how we met up after years... How a kid called Warren got his ass handed to him protecting Max while she fled with me. How we both go to the junkyard” Chloe choked up some, “to test her powers and how the nosy little so and so dug her way through my room and the hideout at the junkyard!” Chloe couldn't help but snicker at Max's insatiable desire to be a nosy little bitch.  
“Are you okay, Chloe?” Kate whispered  
“Sure. Why?”  
“You're crying”  
“It’s just hard yanno... Her having all these experiences that I can't even remember!”  
“Oh, Chloe...” Kate pulled her in for a hug and was joined a moment later by Victoria.  
“The Queen Bitch cares?”  
“Reluctantly, I assure you”  
“Anyway... So the next day came along and... You killed yourself, Kate”  
“What?! How did you know that I have been feeling suicidal?!” Chloe held up the journal and looked at it regretfully. “Oh” a look of deep contemplation crossed her mind  
“And we also broke into Blackwell’s pool, almost getting caught by security... Max was sure that if it wasn't for her powers her clumsy ass would've been caught!” Chloe laughed, it felt liberating to be able to talk about what she had read.  
“That sounds more like the Chloe Price I knew and loved” Victoria muttered  
Chloe looked over at her. _She's handling this whole thing better this time_  
No sooner had Chloe thought it, Victoria began to cry. “I'm so so sorry, Kate!!” she sobbed, “no words can possibly express how sorry I am”  
_Or not..._  
“Sorry?” Kate's readily apparent confusion intensified  
“I'm so sorry I took that video I’m so sorry I wasn't there to support you. I'm just sorry”  
“Victoria, it’s not your fault”  
“Yes, it was. You see you were taken by Nathan to Jefferson's bunker and I just stood there like an idiot taking a video”  
_I haven't gotten that far into my story yet..._  
“Jefferson's bunker?”  
“Something I reported to the police via my step-douche using a burner phone, a location I knew only because of this.” She held up the journal again as well as the cheap phone that had been on the bed with its battery and SIM card removed. “I also anonymously tipped them about the location of Rachel's body. I mean I was desperate at the time so I used the information in the journal since I’d lost all hope of finding her. But the journal... It was accurate to the inch about where Rachel's body was.” Chloe opened the journal and showed Kate the page as well as a Polaroid of the texts between the burner phone and the police and another one of the texts between David and herself  
“Oh my god... Are you saying that Max knew where Rachel was buried?!” Chloe looked Kate directly into the eyes and nodded once. “Time travel?!” Chloe nodded again, her eyes still not breaking their gaze directly into Kate's as if she were hoping that by looking into her eyes, Kate would see that she was not insane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up... A funeral


	5. A bad morning...

“Chloe...”  
_Go away_  
“Chloe!” The rapping on the door intensified.  
“What?!”  
“It's ten in the morning, you have to get ready!” Kate's voice was gentle and soothing but firm.  
“I don't wanna face the day, Kate!”  
“I know, I know. Chloe, me and Vic are gonna be there you know that, right?”  
“Sure I just don't wanna do it”  
“For Max, Chloe”  
“Fine...”

Twenty minutes later Chloe clambered out of Max’s bed, pulled her hair back out of her eyes and into a messy ponytail. “Shit” she groaned, preparing to leave the room to go and have a shower. She opened the door slowly, blinking a number of times at the bright corridor and poked her head out of Max's room once her eyes had adjusted. She peered both ways down the corridor for people she didn't know, basically anyone who wasn’t Kate or Victoria since she wasn't exactly in the mood to meet or talk to people, that and she shouldn't even have been in there. _I do not want to face today..._  
“Morning” Kate's gentle voice came from beside her door.  
“Kate?”  
“Yeah. Come on, let's go” Kate grabbed Chloe's hand  
“Hey, what you doing?”  
“Making sure you go in the shower”  
“I can do it myself, Kate”  
“You've been in some kind of dissociative state the past few days, Chloe. Then before the revelation of Max's journal you spent most of the time asleep”  
“So you're saying I've lost the ability to take care of myself, huh?”  
“No... Chloe, I didn't...”  
“Yup. She meant it that way”  
“Vicky!!” Kate gently tapped Victoria's arm, the latter was smirking.  
“Sorry, couldn't waste the opportunity”  
“Screw you, Vicky”

Kate continued talking to Chloe while Victoria walked on ahead to the showers, she stepped in and called out, “everyone out!”  
“Yes, Vic” Taylor was the first to leave  
“Yes, Victoria” Brooke was the second out  
“Court, get out” Victoria demanded, disturbing the girl as she pulled her shirt on but before she could get out of the shower stall to fix her makeup  
“Vic, why do you continue to help the smurf?” Courtney asked  
“Court...” Victoria's voice acquired a sharp tone of warning  
“Seriously, Vic...”  
“Courtney! Just... Get out.”  
“Fine, Vic” Courtney left the bathroom, a disgruntled look on her face. 

Victoria moved out of the bathroom and waved to Kate who led Chloe out of Max's room and to the shower room. “All clear” Victoria whispered to Chloe and Kate  
“Thanks, Vicky” Kate smiled genuinely at her and Victoria nodded back at her. “Come on you” she pulled Chloe the rest of the way, pushed her behind one of the curtains and closed it. “I'm staying right here, and Vicky is right outside the door to stop anyone from coming in”

Chloe finished up in the shower mostly without breaking down. She pulled on the dirty clothes that she had worn since the day she had moved in. “I'm done” she smiled down at Kate and Kate gestured at the door  
“Now, Chloe, you know you can't go looking like that... Don't be mad but Vicky got you something to wear today” Kate whispered gently while guiding Chloe back to Max's room  
“She... She did?”  
“Yup.” Chloe frowned, “she put it on your bed for you”  
“Shit. Accepting charity from Victoria Chase...”  
“Chloe, she only wants to help”  
“I know”


	6. Eulogy

“I'm so not ready for this, Katie”  
“We know, Chloe” Victoria replied while Kate nodded sadly. The blonde in question sat one side of the car and Kate sat the other with the blunette sandwiched between them in a tangle of arms. Victoria had already given the chauffeur orders on where to take them, the Chase name serving her well once again and all they had to do was sit and wait to arrive at their destination.  
“It's gonna be okay, Chloe” Kate whispered, “after everything she's done for us... We all owe her so much”  
“None more so than me” Chloe whispered  
Victoria's eyes widened and her nostrils flared, “Price!” she whispered, an unnerving return to the Victoria Chase of old, enough to startle Chloe into silence before she could carry on with any self-deprecating thoughts. Kate raised an eyebrow reproachfully at the other woman and Victoria sighed. “You know as well as I do deep down that she wouldn't expect you to owe her anything, that's just who she is. Hell, I expect she’d say that none of us owe her for anything despite what she did, least of all you. She loved you, Chloe”  
“She did talk about it in her journal” the blunette admitted  
“See? The _week that never was_ only existed because she loved you so much”  
“Why... Why did she have to die...?” Chloe looked over at Victoria, her eyes swimming in unshed years  
“We don't know, Chloe”

“Excuse me, Ms. Chase. We have arrived” the chauffeur announced  
“Thank you, James”  
Victoria was the first to get out, she hadn't ever been to Arcadia Bay cemetery before since she wasn't religious and nobody she was close to had died. “It's nice, isn't it?” Kate moved to stand next to Victoria who was giving the area a good look over with the practiced eye of a photographer while nodding her appreciation for the beauty of the place. After a few moments both Kate and Victoria reached into the car and pulled Chloe out by her arms much to the chagrin of the blunette who was quite happy to sit in the car for the duration  
“Come on, you. Let's go find our seats” Victoria took one of Chloe's hands while Kate took the other and together they led a teary eyed Chloe towards the church where the other funeral-goers were already gathering. Justin and the skaters were already there as were the Ambers. A few Vortex Club members, namely Taylor and Courtney. Steph Gingrich, Mikey and Drew stood in their respective social groups. Kate’s family, Dana, Juliet, Brooke, Alyssa and Stella as well as Daniel and Warren also stood around waiting for the funeral to begin. Chloe's family and Max's parents were huddled together a short way from the others. Most of Chloe's friends had turned up at the funeral to show their support for Chloe who had almost died herself and had lost both her best friends

“Chloe!” Joyce and David were the first to run up to greet their daughter. “Thank you for looking after her you two” Joyce drawled while she pulled all three girls into a hug  
“It’s no trouble, Mrs. Madsen” Victoria replied, “she's been no trouble at all”  
“Except for breaking and entering the girl’s dorms” David added only to be whacked by Joyce  
“Leave her alone, David” Joyce warned  
“I meant it as a joke”  
“Mom, it’s okay. Step douche here didn't mean it”  
“Chloe! Oh, Chloe!” Another two pairs of thudding footsteps and another two people threw their arms around Chloe  
“Mr. And. Mrs. Caulfield... I'm so sorry”  
“Chloe...” Vanessa warned, “call us Ryan and Vanessa, please? Don't be a stranger”

Fifteen minutes later the service began. Chloe had slipped one bullet from her necklace into the coffin at the visitation which had occurred the evening before, that alone had been one of the many reasons that Chloe wasn’t ready for the funeral, she hadn’t even been able to process the visitation before the funeral. The visitation had been closed casket but thanks to a minor diversion by Victoria, Chloe had been able to slip the necklace she had made for Max onto her, a final parting gift from the blunette. Kate hadn't approved of the blunette and blonde’s plan initially, knowing that it was closed casket on account of Chloe's already apparent emotional instability but eventually she had realized that Chloe wanted no _needed_ to do it and had agreed to help. Chloe remained respectfully quiet in the front row with her parents and Max's parents as well as her close friends like Warren and Kate. Victoria also joined the front row since she had been helping Chloe so much since Max died. They all listened to the clergyman in respectful silence, even Chloe was completely silent while ignoring the curious glances from some of Max's extended family since they didn't recognize her at all 

All too soon Chloe's chance to speak, to deliver her eulogy arrived, Kate and Victoria nodded at her in encouragement as she stood, proud yet solemn smiles on their faces. “Maxine Caulfield... Where to begin?” Chloe spoke quietly and, for the first time in recent memory without swearing every other word. “Well, first off you lot it's Max _never_ Maxine” she declared to a few chuckles from the assembled group, mainly those who knew Max well such as her parents and those in her dorm. “How best to describe my best friend, my love of my life?” There were a few audible gasps from the crowd but nobody dared say anything since Victoria was glaring at anyone who looked as if they were about to comment, the trademark Queen Bee glare still enough to shut anyone up. “She was the most adorable little hippie in the history of hippies” Chloe whispered sadly. “To me, she'll always be that shy little pirate that I knew ever since kindergarten.” A few small awws came from some of the assembled mourners, “I'm gonna tell you a story,” Chloe began, “a story about two young pirates that had their last adventure together, chasing after treasure, a horde of gemstones that had been lost for a long time.” Chloe paused for dramatic effect, “one story, one week, one last adventure”

The entirety of the group was completely silent as Chloe began her story, “Once upon a time, there were two pirates... Their long-standing partnership torn apart by events beyond their control. Little did these two pirates know that they would be destined to be thrown together once again for one last quest...”  
Kate and Victoria shared a glance, sharing in the same sentiment. _Is she absolutely sure about this?_  
“This quest began one Monday morning, a deadly curse had already taken effect and it was down to our two young pirates to save the day. On that fateful morning, they bumped into each other, one riding a rusty old pirate ship and the other on a life raft. Not recognizing the person in the life raft the pirate aboard the ship stopped so she could do what pirates do best, plunder only to stop when she recognized her former partner in time, her old pirate partner. Together they searched far and wide for a hint of their buried treasure.” Chloe let a few tears run down her cheeks as she lowered her voice, “their adventure was dangerous, some of the people they would meet would help them, others would hinder them.” The blunette paused to wipe her eyes, “the second day was just as exciting as the first. On their chase for clues the pirates had to save another's life” Kate blushed at the mention of her suicide attempt, remembering just how far Max was willing to go to save her, something which Chloe had made very apparent to the young Christian. “Someone who held vital information about the whereabouts of the missing treasure and had a talisman that could protect the adventurous pirates, a talisman she willingly gave up to help the pair. The clues gained from the traveling woman led them to an island where after finding a few more clues, they took some much-needed downtime by having a splish splash in a volcanic spring”  
“What the hell is this?” Vanessa mumbled to Joyce who shrugged. _It's far too emotional for Chloe for it to be just one of their games_

“They woke up together on the third day, they had gone to bed together exhausted and happily tipsy from all the wine they had drunk before they went to bed together.” Chloe winked at Joyce, remembering the wine tasting incident. “After sharing a brief kiss they continued their search, knowing they had to find the treasure by that Friday else the world would be destroyed”  
“My my, I sometimes forget how vivid their imagination could be” Ryan mumbled, wiping his eyes of tears as he was forced to remember Max and Chloe playing together every day

“Aside from further signs of the oncoming apocalypse and a near-disastrous encounter with another pirate ship, the antiheroes spent most of their day in their cabin, trying to find out where the treasure could be hidden. They had a map but no X” Chloe whispered sadly, dragging her raw emotions from both Rachel's and Max's deaths to the surface. “Thursday became a busy day for them, they had yet another encounter with the pirate from the day before in which they were forced to kill him. Once they dispatched the latest threat to their quest the two pirates set off, eventually discovering evidence of the location of their goal in a castle's dungeon. They headed there and began excavation but before they could finish, one of our budding antiheroes was hurt.” There was a collective gasp of shock from the group. “Left for dead but protected by the talisman, the antihero, though wounded, managed to get herself back to safety while the owner of the aforementioned dungeon, enraged by them stealing from him was the one to hurt one of our heroes and had her partner tied up and subjected to cruel torture.” Chloe paused. “Excuse me I need the bathroom” she whispered then at everyone's dismay she cackled and shook her head, “joking!!”

A collective groan from the crowd later and Kate was giggling, “she's really gotten everyone invested in the ‘story’ hasn’t she”  
“Hell... Or rather hella yeah”  
“Anyway, it was Friday before our daring antihero could reach the dungeon to save her partner. She and an unlikely ally she picked up...”  
“Well, that's one way to describe David, I guess” Victoria mumbled  
“Along the way broke into the castle, killing anyone who got in between her and her partner. They busted their way into the dungeon, killed the sadistic bastard who owned it and fled. They bade farewell to their ally and returned to the site of the buried treasure, excavating it just in time to stop the gargantuan storm that would’ve wiped out all life on the planet. In doing so they tied their souls to the treasure, saving the world”  
Vanessa realized why Chloe was so emotional, _she is remembering the last time they played pirates before William died... The time capsule they buried as kids that they found the day he died..._ She was startled from her thoughts by a thunderous standing ovation led by both Kate and Victoria


	7. Bathroom flashback

Once the thunderous applause died down and Chloe had taken her seat, Ryan and Vanessa stood. “Yeah... Maxine” Vanessa began, “honestly I don't know what to say after Chloe's story, that was essentially Maxine's life. She loved every moment of it, every moment she spent looking for treasure with Chloe”  
_By all accounts that search for the gemstone was worse than hell. She had to watch me die and endure that sick fucker Jefferson's dark room antics. I hope someone tears Jefferson’s dick off once he gets to jail, only sad that he’ll be segregated cos he's a fucking pedo_  
“I miss my daughter so much... I wish she'd come back to me so I can say goodbye to her one last time. So we can say goodbye one last time” Vanessa indicated Chloe and Ryan as well as Joyce and David. Chloe looked away with her eyes filling with tears, she alone had the opportunity to say goodbye to Max. Chloe pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, her shoulders wracking with the force of her sobs. “We all lost a dear friend, a dear relative.” Vanessa looked over at Chloe again, Kate and Victoria had their arms wrapped around her tightly. “None more so than Chloe. Chloe was Max's whole world and vice versa.” She paused to wipe her eyes, eventually shaking her head and sitting down again on Victoria's other side then reached out around Victoria to gently squeeze Chloe's shoulder.

Chloe meanwhile had zoned out of what was going on around her, remembering the day that she had reunited with Chloe, the day Max had bled out on the filthy floor of a bathroom.

*****

 _The Chloe from the past had just entered the bathroom to find the rich spoiled brat, Nathan Prescott already there waiting for her._ Chloe felt as if she had a bird’s-eye view of the events as they unfolded once again. _Nathan immediately spoke to past Chloe “So what do you want?”_  
_Past Chloe started opening each of the stalls to check for unwanted eavesdroppers but just like before she didn't check behind the stalls. “I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say. Now, let's talk bidness” past Chloe turned to face Nathan_  
_“I got nothing for you.” Nathan snapped_  
_“Wrong. You got hella cash.” Chloe grumbled in annoyance_  
_“That's my family, not me,” Nathan grumbled, as much as he liked having money, he still hated his father_  
_“Oh, boohoo, poor little rich kid. I know you been pumpin' drugs 'n' shit to kids around here... I bet your respectable family would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now...” Chloe taunted, trying to make Nathan angry_  
_Nathan snarled, “Leave them out of this, bitch.”_  
_“I can tell everybody Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself...” Chloe taunted in an overly jovial tone only to be silenced as Nathan pulled out his gun and pointed it at Chloe. Chloe immediately backed up, her back soon bumped into the wall. Nathan advanced on her and placed one hand against the wall and the other directed the gun at her stomach._  
_Nathan's eyes narrowed and his voice rose slightly, “You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!”_  
_“Where'd you get that?! What are you doing!? Come on, put that thing down!” Chloe's attitude vanished and her eyes grew wide, she was terrified and her tough punk act immediately fell away into nothingness_  
_“Don't EVER tell me what to do. I'm so SICK of people trying to control me!” Nathan yelled at Chloe and every word he screamed made Chloe flinch involuntarily._  
_“You are going to get in hella more trouble for this than drugs...” despite the fact that Chloe was terrified and that Nathan knew she was terrified, Chloe desperately attempted to get back what she could of her punk attitude_  
_“Nobody would ever even miss your "punk ass" would they?” Nathan ranted and Chloe flinched again_  
_“Get that gun away from me, psycho!” Chloe whimpered, her eyes filling with tears_

_“Nathan!! Nathan, stop!!” A third voice echoed loud and clear through the bathroom._ Chloe jumped, she barely remembered what happened in the bathroom. _Past Chloe jumped into the air while Nathan's head spun around in shock followed closely by the hand in which he held the gun. A petite brunette was charging toward Nathan holding something in her right hand. “Nathan!!” she screamed again, her voice full of determination and anger. Nathan's finger squeezed the trigger involuntarily and there was a loud bang_


	8. Condolences

Chloe looked up, everyone around her save Kate and Victoria were stood and praying quietly for Max. Kate, despite being sat with Chloe in her arms was still mouthing the words to the prayer, Victoria, on the other hand, was sitting in silence, her arms wrapped around Chloe. Both their tear-stained faces turned to look at Chloe, relief passing through their eyes. “Chloe, you’re back” Victoria whispered with no small amount of relief, the girls had bonded over the truth behind how Max lived her last week as the heroic super Max instead of the shy hipster nerd everyone else knew her as and both Kate and Victoria had sworn to each other that they'd help Chloe through Rachel and Max's deaths.  
“Yeah...” Chloe croaked the first word then was overcome with more tears, tears of sorrow instead of tears of fear that she had been shedding while trapped in the flashback only moments before. _Fuck, I miss her so fucking much..._

Ten minutes later the funeral service ended and everyone made their way outside with yet more whispered condolences to Joyce, David and Chloe. “I never knew so many people knew Super Max” Chloe whispered  
“I know, Chloe. Everyone here had their life touched in some way by Max” Victoria whispered  
“Wherever she is, Chloe, she will be in a better place” Kate replied, her usually happy voice solemn yet filled with the utmost confidence. Kate knew Max would be going to heaven but knew Chloe was a strict atheist so didn't feel right in saying that  
“Chloe!!” Michelle Grant, the acting principal and science teacher of Blackwell stepped forward to greet Chloe and offer her condolences. “And Ms. Marsh and Ms. Chase too!” She wrapped her arms around Chloe, ignoring the strangeness of the scene in front of her, she wouldn't have believed the religious student and Chloe would get along so well and Victoria Chase was... Victoria Chase, after all, someone Chloe had hated with a passion. Ms. Grant pulled her in for a hug, the two had always gotten along well. “I'm so sorry, Chloe. This should not have happened”  
_You're right, it shouldn't have_  
“I promise, Chloe. We will rid Blackwell of the unsavory influences of the Prescotts. With Wells suspended pending an investigation, one I have heard that he will not recover from, the job of principal falls to me. I swear to you this will not happen again, not ever again”  
“Thank you” was all Chloe managed, her two friends stood either side of her, content to be silent.  
“I see Wells wasn’t invited to the funeral” the dark-skinned woman observed, “good. He has no right to be here”  
“Chloe!” another feminine voice called  
“I'll see you around, Chloe?” Ms. Grant let her go and moved away while Chloe nodded and mumbled out an 'I guess'. A few seconds later, Brooke had arrived in her place. Brooke didn't hug Chloe, they hadn't seen each other in a few years, not since Chloe had been expelled but Chloe was relieved to see her all the same. They had once bonded over sharing a flight with Brooke's drone  
“Hey, Chloe” she began  
“Hey, Brooke”  
“I'm so sorry for your loss. I didn't really know Max outside of the classroom but I wish I'd made the time to get to know her like Warren did”  
“Thank you, Brooke”  
“You've changed so much from that straight A student you used to be. Once upon a time, I was jealous of how little work it seemed to take you to maintain those As”  
“Eh. Well, it’s over now” Chloe replied, “I'm a high school dropout after all”  
Brooke sighed with a small frown, “but that doesn't mean you're worthless”  
“I guess?” Chloe replied with a half-hearted shrug  
“See ya round, Chloe” she smiled as if knowing something then she made her way back towards the entrance, following Ms. Grant

Kate and Victoria took that chance that came in the form of a lull in people wanting to give Chloe their condolences to wrap their arms around her again in another much-needed hug. “Thank you, you two” Chloe whispered to the girls. A number of people passed the trio on their way out of the churchyard. Taylor, Dana, Juliet, Alyssa, Trevor, Evan, Drew and Mikey, Hayden and the Ambers all murmured condolences as they passed leaving Chloe, Kate and Victoria alone with Ryan and Vanessa, Joyce and David, Warren, Steph and weirdly, Samuel. There had been no sign of Courtney but Chloe wasn't overly bothered by her lack of appearance, Nathan and Jefferson were also absent since they were both in jail

“Chloe Price.” The old and weird janitor, Samuel walked toward Chloe. Victoria tensed up upon seeing him but kept quiet. “Samuel is sorry for your loss, to be so young and to lose so much”  
“Uh, thanks?” Chloe still didn't know how to act around Samuel  
“Samuel was told that she is sorry” Samuel indicated the church behind them, “Young Max was a superhero who saved an entire town, Samuel was honored to know her”  
“Say, what do you know about what happened to Max?” Kate spoke up directly to Samuel  
“Samuel knows she had a tough week that ended with an impossible decision. She couldn't wipe out thousands of people but at the same time she couldn't kill Chloe”  
Kate's and Victoria's mouths dropped open, to hear it confirmed by another source was a surreal experience for them both. “So it's true?” the latter breathed  
“Samuel would like to believe that young Max died a superhero and so he will. The squirrels and Samuel both only wished there was more _time_ ” With that he turned and left, leaving two stunned young women in his wake  
“I _told_ you so” Chloe teased in a light lilting voice


	9. The final resting place

Chloe smirked at both of her friends. “Chloe... Everything you said was...” Kate whispered  
“What, true?” Chloe asked with a solemn smile and Victoria nodded  
“Yeah, that” Victoria confirmed  
“Then yeah... I guess it was true. The power died with Max, but at least it can't hurt her anymore”  
“So no more resets?”  
“I guess not” Chloe sighed sadly.

“Excuse me, girls” Vanessa had joined them. “It's time for the burial”  
“Fuck...” Chloe hissed. “Fine, let's go” she indicated and Vanessa led the way back toward Joyce, David and Ryan  
“Your friends can come too” Vanessa whispered in a warm voice and waved them both forward. “Kate and Victoria, right?” They both nodded  
“Thanks, Mrs. Caulfield!” Chloe grabbed the hands of her two friends and led them forward to where a pine casket awaited its final descent into the ground. Steph hung around for a few moments then decided to leave with a shake of her head, tears barely visible in the corners of her eyes  
“It’s Vanessa to you, Chloe. Always will be”  
“Kate, Victoria, it's so nice to finally meet you properly” Ryan spoke to the two girls, “I hope you're both looking after our Chloe  
“Of course, Mr. Caulfield. I just wish I'd known what was going on.” Kate mumbled regretfully. “Maybe we could've changed the outcome”  
“Let me stop you right there, Kate” Ryan replied. “None of you are in any way responsible for what happened. Max chose to save Chloe's life and if I'm honest, I'm mighty proud of my daughter for doing that”  
Chloe looked astonished, “But...”  
“No buts, Chloe. You're not to blame”  
“Oh, but I am”  
“You only did what you felt you had to do to secure your future financially and make sure that sick asshole never went near you again, never hurt you again. You weren't to know Nathan had a gun”  
“What...? What do you mean, Mr. Caulfield?” Victoria and Kate had looked at Ryan then at Chloe, a small amount of confusion visible on their faces  
“That's not my decision to make, you'll have to ask Chloe who might decide not to tell you” Ryan was naturally overprotective of Chloe, even more so than he had been before Max's death. “If she decides not to tell you, please respect that”  
“Oh, don't worry, Mr. Caulfield. We will respect Chloe's wishes” Victoria reassured him  
“I'm very glad to hear it”

They stopped walking near to the newly dug grave which had a covered gravestone. “Oh, Max” Chloe sighed and leaned against Victoria. The three women watched the official walk to the grave and start the service  
“Almighty God, you love everything you have made and wash over us with your unending mercy...”

Eventually, he moved on from the prayer, Victoria noticed that Kate had her eyes closed and head bowed but that Chloe stood trying to control her distress as to not make a scene in front of Max's family and closest friends. Victoria wrapped her arms around Chloe as tight as she could. “We meet here today to honor the life of Maxine Caulfield. We give thanks for her life and ask God to bless her now that her time in this world has come to an end.”

Finally the service came to a conclusion, “Remember to bless each day and to live it to the full in honor of life itself - and of Maxine Caulfield. We often take life for granted and yet it is the greatest gift God gave us.” For Chloe the end couldn't come soon enough, every word that was spoken caused her agony as she was forced to face the undeniable truth that her best friend was gone, forever. Though her tears had ceased a mere ten minutes into the final service, she remained slumped between Victoria and Kate and everyone gave the grieving blunette the space she needed. Ryan and Vanessa moved over to her, whispering into her ear at which she shook her head slightly and mouthed a 'no’. Ryan nodded at her and shook his head at the official. Amazing Grace played as the casket was lowered into the ground, Chloe taking her place to drop the first handful of soil on the grave which she did with red-rimmed eyes and barely controlled sobs before returning to Kate and Victoria. “I love you, Max. My sweet cute hippie” Chloe spoke in a barely audible voice, saying goodbye to the love of her life one last time

From opposite Chloe, a dark brown haired woman and man watched Chloe with uncertainty in their eyes, they had seen Chloe's photograph as it was impossible to be friends with Maxine Caulfield without at some point seeing a photograph of her strawberry blonde childhood friend. “Who on earth is that, Fernando?” The woman asked quietly  
“I have no idea, Kristen” the man replied. “I dunno the two people she's with either. I think the blonde bun girl was a friend on Max's Facebook, Kate. No idea about the blunette or the blonde though”  
“Let's go say hi, then”  
“Are you sure?”  
But Kristen was already on her way around the grave to approach the three girls. “Hey, Kate, right”  
“Yeah?”  
“My name's Kristen, did you know Max well?”  
“I only really knew her since she came back to Arcadia Bay”  
“And your friends?”  
“This is Vicky”  
“Ahem”  
“Sorry, _Victoria_ ”  
“Nice to meet you Victoria. What about you, how well did you know Max?”  
“Uh, not very well. I'm here mainly for...” she indicated the grieving blunette, “Chloe”  
“Chloe...?” Kristen's eyes widened, “ _Chloe_?!”


	10. Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger warning:** adorably angry bunny up ahead!!

“Chloe _Price_?”  
“Uh yeah, that's me?” Chloe replied with a raised eyebrow  
“Max told us so much about you!”  
“She-she did?”  
“Yeah” Kristen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “She was all broken up inside, you know”  
Victoria’s eyes narrowed and she made to step forward but was stopped by Kate. “I know, believe me. I know how bad it hurt.” Chloe replied, a pained expression on her face  
“And yet you never tried to contact her? No calls, texts emails or even letters!”  
“Kris... Are we doing this right here, right now?” Fernando attempted to head off the oncoming storm that was brewing in the brunette  
“You ignored her for five years!!” Kristen continued, ignoring Fernando's pleas for her to stop, think and confront Chloe at a more appropriate time  
“Yep. Looks like we are” Fernando mumbled, resigned to the fact that Chloe would be yelled at until she burst into tears or until one of the parents saw fit to intervene  
“And she ignored me for five fucking years!!” Chloe retaliated angrily, partially hating how some girl who had only known Max a few years thought she had the right to have a go at Chloe but mostly hating how true Kristen's statements were  
“Chloe, language!” Joyce scolded her and Chloe flipped the bird at her angrily, too far gone from the stress of having to say goodbye to the love of her life and the pain brought to the surface by Kristen's angry words  
“Max ignored me for five fucking years and was here in Arcadia Bay for a month!!” Chloe screamed, feeling incredibly guilty for not contacting Max. “The first I knew about her being back she was spluttering blood all over the floor of a fucking bathroom!!” Chloe shrieked, “She was bleeding to death in a fucking filthy bathroom, you fucking bitch and where were _you_?!”  
“It took max almost three years to make any friends at all!! She was badly hurt by the shit you...” Kristen hissed, too furious to even yell  
“That. Is. **ENOUGH**!!!” Victoria interrupted, stepping forward, planting herself between Chloe and Kirsten and roaring in Kristen's face, she was apocalyptically pissed by Kristen's attitude. “So you lost a friend you knew for two years... Big. FUCKING. Deal!!” Victoria had leaned into Kristen's personal space and was visibly seething. Kristen, despite not going to Blackwell and therefore not knowing Victoria's place in the Blackwell hierarchy, took a few hasty steps back away from the seething Queen Bee, her social presence was clearly immense. “CHLOE here lost her childhood best friend! Not to mention that the love of her life died in that miserable fucking bathroom!! This is Max's funeral, the girl who was Chloe's fucking soulmate and you will fucking behave like a fucking human being, or fucking else! I do not give a fuck what you think, not really but, if you go after Chloe I'll _personally_ kick your fucking ass!!”  
“Wow...” Fernando whispered in awe of the pixie blonde’s fury  
“And you, you can fuck right off too!” Victoria had rounded on Fernando and decided to give him a piece of her mind. “I don't want to see either one of you horrible people within ten feet of Chloe! You're a disgrace to Max's memory!”

Chastised, both Kristen and Fernando backed away sharpish, giving Chloe the space that Victoria had demanded, looks of shock and fear on their faces. “Wow...” Fernando repeated his earlier statement  
“Fucking ignorant shitheads!!” Victoria seethed. “Agh I’m so fucking pissed off, how fucking dare they!”  
“Vicky, they're gone now” Kate whispered in a soothing voice and grasped Victoria's clenched hands. Victoria slowly unclenched her hands, slowly calming down and wrapping her hands around Kate's smaller ones. “Calm down, let's not be furious anymore, Chloe needs us”  
“I-I'm sorry, Kate” Victoria whispered meekly  
“It’s okay, Vicky. Those... Mean people deserved it. I can't believe they'd do that to Chloe, I mean I know she looks like a bad person but she has a heart of gold! She wouldn't _ever_ willingly hurt Max, just like Max wouldn't _ever_ willingly hurt Chloe!” Kate frowned, stepping toward Kristen and Fernando who had moved a respectable distance away. “And that's another thing, HEY!!” Kate snapped, Kristen and Fernando turned back and peered at the normally docile, even timid Christian girl. “My best friend, Max sacrificed _everything_ for Chloe!! By accusing Chloe of that stuff, you're insulting Max's memory!! She died so Chloe could live!! She did sh-stuff that you couldn't possibly comprehend in an attempt to keep Chloe safe so you really p-p-made me mad by saying that stuff about Chloe!! That somehow Chloe wasn't worthy of Max's unconditional love?! W-well you know what, go f- _fuck_ your selfies!”  
Chloe and Victoria gaped at the Christian girl who had just unleashed some kind of holy fury at the two people who dared insult two of her favorite people. The timid Christian had just found her line and they had unwittingly crossed it. “H-holy shit, Kate” Victoria was openly gaping at the petite blonde who turned away from the shocked Seattleites. Not only had the Christian lost her temper but she had used _bad words_ and as such both Chloe and Victoria were speechless. “Kate's first swear” Victoria commented lightly. _Wish I'd been videoing that, nobody would fuck with Kate, or Chloe again it they saw that_  
In the ringing silence that followed, Kirsten and Fernando promptly left the cemetery, heading back out to their car while wondering if they were worthy of attending the meal set to start in a few short hours after the scene they had created

“Yeah... Don't f-fuck with my friends...” Kate warned, soon finding herself, along with Victoria, in the arms of an incredibly grateful blunette  
“Thank you, girls!! You're both the best, you know” Chloe pulled them in closer, hiding her face and her tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little pissed off bunny, our petite Katie?! She's fucking awesome and adorable


	11. A request

_Ding ding ding_. The clear ringing of Ryan's fork against his glass echoed out across the restaurant they were sat in. Chloe was sat between Kate and Victoria, Kate was sat next to Warren and Victoria was sat next to Ryan and Vanessa who was sat next to Warren. Other relatives and friends were sat on other tables, the round table Chloe was at was reserved for the closest members of the family. Joyce and David had willingly given up their seats for Kate and Victoria who had been there for Chloe since Max had been shot, they hadn’t ever seen that kind of support for their daughter since Max had left. She had always been an outcast but suddenly Kate and Victoria, the latter of whom Chloe had bitched about to her mother on a number of occasions, were there for Chloe when she needed their support. Neither Joyce nor David had seen much of Chloe since she snuck into Max's dorm room but they had been getting updates from Kate or Victoria. Kate and Victoria not only supported Chloe throughout both day and night, taking it in turns to sleep in Max's room with Chloe, they also made sure the grieving blunette had the space she needed to grieve. Victoria cleared the bathroom for Chloe whenever she wanted a shower, which wasn't as often as it should have been and Kate always ensured a hot cup of tea was by Chloe's side for her to drink at her leisure not to mention keeping Chloe company while she sobbed in the shower, hidden from the world by a thin white curtain.

“Hello everyone” Ryan spoke once the hubbub of conversation had died down. The Caulfield family had flown in from Ireland so they were busy getting reacquainted with Vanessa’s family, the Sanders family that originated from Iowa. They sat around other, longer tables and a few of Max's friends had been thrown into the mix, Dana Ward, Juliet Watson, Alyssa Anderson and Stella Hill were sat together along with Steph Gingrich who had turned up to support Chloe with Drew and Mikey. Kristen and Fernando decided that they would attend the meal after all since they were also Max's friends. A few of Max's other friends from Seattle, Jane Kinney and the identical twins Karen and Julia Thomas had also driven down from Seattle to attend the funeral and meal. The burial itself had been a much more private affair according to Ryan and Vanessa's wishes with only the closest of family and friends being present. Lynn and Eloise Marsh, Kate's sisters had also joined Kate at Blackwell the night before and had slept in her room while their older sister stayed with Chloe, they had wanted to attend Max's funeral as well. “Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for coming, it truly is amazing to see you all here considering how far some of you have had to fly or drive.” Ryan smiled around the room at everyone. “I just wanted to say that I'm certain Max would want us not to feel sorrow for her death as she sacrificed herself for the one person she perhaps cared about above all others, even me and Vanessa. I am of course speaking about Chloe Price, Max's best friend since she was very small. Max wouldn't want us to be sad, she would want us to be happy for the days she had with her best friend, Chloe.” He turned to Chloe, “Chloe, I know it's five years too late but we cannot possibly express how sorry we both are for all the pain we caused both you and Max. Had we let her stay with you, then maybe none of this would’ve ever happened”  
_Holy shit... He's apologizing to me when I was the one who got his daughter shot_. No sooner had Chloe finished that self-deprecating thought, Kate was nudging her and looking at her sternly  
“I'm just... So so sorry, Chloe. I'm so so sorry, Max.” The big lumberjack of a man wiped his red and black eyes, red from all the crying and black from the lack of sleep and sat down, curling into himself. 

“What Ryan originally wanted to say was that Max wouldn't want us to be crying, she would’ve wanted us to be happy. Telling stories like Chloe did back at the funeral, I believe that story was the last day that Max and Chloe were together and happy. Joyce told me how they spent hours chasing after a time capsule”  
_She doesn't even fucking realize that Max truly was Super Max!!_ Victoria and Kate shared a knowing glance  
“A time capsule that had been reburied by Joyce’s late husband, William. The treasure was stuff they left for themselves, more valuable than any gemstone”  
Victoria took a glance at Chloe to see how she would react, Vanessa had unwittingly demeaned Rachel Amber. Surprisingly, Chloe was relaxed. _Phew_. Victoria thought to herself  
“And Max would want us to continue on, sharing stories of our time with Max, and Chloe of course cos if you want to talk about Max, you gotta talk about Chloe too. She was the most important person to our Max and therefore she is the most important person here today. Everyone is to treat her like a member of the family” she eyes lingered on Kristen who gulped, “because truthfully she is. Chloe Price is a part of the Caulfield family just like Max was a member of the Price family”

Vanessa paused for a few moments. “Chloe, that's why Ryan and I both decided that all of Max's belongings should go to their rightful recipient, you” Chloe smiled gratefully, she wanted to create a 'Max Caulfield memorial wall’ of her own. “Furthermore, we discussed it at length and decided that if anything happens to us we should leave everything to our daughter, you, including our name. Chloe, we would be honored if you took our last name as well as your own.” Mouths dropped open around the tables but none more so than Chloe's. “We would be honored if you became Chloe Elizabeth Price-Caulfield”

That was too much for Chloe, she burst into tears to be quickly hugged from both sides by Kate and Victoria. Ryan and Vanessa stood as did Joyce and David, they moved forward as one and all wrapped their arms around the distraught blunette. Chloe caught Joyce’s eye and she nodded once. “I-I would like that very much, Mrs. C”  
“Stop it with the Mrs. C, Chloe. Being part of the family means you can call me Vanessa and my husband Ryan. No other names okay, unless...”  
_Unless... What?_ Chloe found herself filled with eager anticipation for some inexplicable reason. She seemed to recall having had a William dream the night before so she reasoned that that could be why  
“You wanted to call us mom and dad” Chloe's lip trembled and tears streamed down her face.  
Wordlessly, she nodded “I” She coughed to clear the frog in her throat, “I would also like to offer Max the same... The right to use the name Price. I know it's what my father, William would have wanted. Please, let Max become Maxine Caulfield-Price”

Both Vanessa and Ryan were shocked into silence. Chloe anxiously waited for their answer, her face slowly starting to fall after a full five minutes of silence. Eventually, Ryan and Vanessa nodded. “Yes, Chloe, we would love that, I'm sure Max would be the happiest woman on the planet”

Chloe sat there in stunned silence while the conversations around her resumed. _I... I-I can't fucking believe it... I-I’m going to be a Caulfield, like Max_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I'm not sure how they'd go about doing this or even if it's possible in the real world...


	12. Apologies

“I would like to apologize for my earlier actions, Ms. Price-Caulfield” Kirsten stepped up to the trio of girls having spent the entire afternoon berating herself for what she had said to Max's oldest and dearest friend  
Victoria and Kate closed ranks in front of Chloe before she could speak, shielding the grieving blunette from the dark-haired girl. “Vicky, Katie. It's okay” both girls looked at her with mild surprise then, still glaring, moved aside so Chloe could speak. “Why... Why did you say what you said?” Chloe whispered the words, the hurt Kristen had caused immediately apparent  
“B-because I was mad she sacrificed herself and maybe a bit jealous, I always envisioned us growing up together. I only really knew Max for two years, it wasn’t enough, you know?” Kirsten replied, doing a fair bit better than she had expected to with not stuttering  
“Yeah... I do know. I knew her for seven years, or maybe thirteen, I don't know anymore” Kate and Victoria smiled as they imagined an older Max and Chloe on an adventure where nothing had really changed between them, except their ages. “Anyway, it's not enough.” Chloe concluded. “I missed five years of her life and that's something I'll have to learn to live with”  
“I'm so so sorry, Ms. Pr...” Kirsten began, her head bowed in shame  
“Call me Chloe, Kristen”  
“Okay, Chloe. I'm truly sorry about what I said before”  
“I'm not” Victoria interrupted with a firm nod from the timid Christian blonde, they didn't regret what they had said to Kirsten, she was being a bitch to someone who had lost their entire world  
“Vicky, please...” Victoria nodded and backed down. “I understand, Kristen but... I'm not ready to accept your apology yet”  
“I understand”  
“What you said really hurt me, you know?” Kristen nodded with a gulp, opening her mouth to apologize again only to be stopped by Chloe raising her hand. “It hurt because maybe it was true. I did abandon Max, friendship is both ways and you're right, I didn't make the effort. That's what I have to come to terms with, Kristen”  
Kristen nodded and held out her hand. “Can we perhaps be friends?”  
“I don't know, I don't think I'm ready yet but... Maybe in the future?” Chloe took Kirsten's hand in her own shaking one and shook it firmly, surprising Kirsten since the blunette certainly looked frail  
“Chloe, come on. We'd better get you home” Kate's gentle voice disturbed the two girls’ bonding time  
“Onward to Blackhell!!” Chloe theatrically lifted her arm and pointed it out in front of her, Kate and Victoria giggled at Chloe's antics  
_That girl is amazing..._ Kirsten shook her head at Chloe's silly antics with a sad smile, _still trying to make those other girls laugh despite losing... Max. Chloe was really important to Max, even after years apart I think the brunette loved her, I’m pretty sure the reverse is true as well_

“Oh, Chloe!” Vanessa was rushing toward them to catch the blunette before she went off back to Max's dorm room. Kirsten had retreated back to Fernando and they had driven away together, back toward the hotel that everyone was staying in  
“Yes, Mrs. C...” Chloe shook her head, “sorry, Vanessa?”  
“Ryan and I will be coming along to Blackwell tomorrow to pack up all of Max's stuff”  
“Okay...?”  
“David explained to us how you've spent the past few weeks sequestered away in Max's dorm room”  
“Oh?” Chloe was confused, she hadn't realized David had known she was there since she expected him to come along and kick her out if he knew she'd stolen the key to Max's room and had been living in there. “Okay” she shrugged slightly, her eyes still devoid of most of the unique mischievous sparkle that she had always had since before the Caulfields had met her.  
“I just thought you'd like to know”  
“Thank you, Vanessa” Kate spoke for Chloe with a gentle smile. _We’ll have to make the place presentable I guess... Chloe can sleep in my room while we do some laundry_. Kate shared a look with Victoria, she was thinking along similar lines, they would discuss their plan of action once they arrived back at Blackwell  
“I can't express my appreciation enough for what you've done for Chloe, Kate. You too, Victoria”  
Both young women smiled at Vanessa, “it was our privilege to get to know Chloe better” Victoria whispered from the position of her arms being around Chloe and her head rested gently against Chloe’s shoulder. “I only wish I had taken the time to her to know her before this tragedy”  
“I guess we all have regrets, Victoria”  
“Mhm”  
“Mine is encouraging Ryan to accept that job in Seattle. If I hadn't... Had tried to stop him instead, there's no telling how different... How much better... Things would've been for everyone involved. Maybe you wouldn't hate us, Chloe. Maybe Max wouldn't have resented us. Maybe you wouldn't have gotten yourself into that mess with Prescott’s murderer of a son”  
_There's that... Thing again, the thing that Mr. Caulfield alluded to earlier_ Victoria thought, quickly quashing her curiosity  
“Maybe... Just maybe... Max would still be alive and well. Maybe she would be... Happy?”  
“I don't hate you, Vanessa. There was a time when I did, but that's not now...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Thirteen will include some D&D, having never played it I need some help with writing it. Comment or tweet my Twitter if you're interested in helping


	13. Tabletop games and dark humor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile hasn't it. Sorry, I was originally intending to have a full D&D/tabletop campaign in this chapter but I didn't feel confident in my understanding of the game

Chloe slumped down into Max's couch once she arrived back at Max's dorm. “Shit” she sighed, covering her face with her hands.  
“Chloe, you okay?” Victoria sat down next to Chloe and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. The pixie blonde had learned a lot helping a miserable, abandoned and dejected Chloe and she had ended up valuing her time with the blunette most out of everything she had done so far, more than her time with her camera on her hand, more than her time in classes at Blackwell.  
Chloe shook her head dejectedly. “Vic, I lost everyone. My dad, Max, Mom Rachel, Max again. Permanently.”  
“I know, Chloe” Victoria sighed, she was miserably regretful. She had never been very nice to Max nor Chloe. She had even been jealous of Rachel and had acted as such.  
“I want to have another shower, girls” Chloe mumbled numbly  
“Maybe later, Chloe. A number of people want to talk to you” Victoria replied with a gentle smile. _That and we have to give the rest of the dorms a chance to have a shower_  
“Not in the mood, Vic” Chloe grumbled. Had Chloe or anyone else called Victoria Vic before Max's death she would've made their lives hell for the rest of eternity yet she had gotten used to both Kate and Chloe calling her by that nickname  
“They’re your friends, Chloe, or at least they were” Kate added reproachfully  
Chloe sighed, “fine, I guess”

“Hey, Chloe” a beanie-wearing auburn-haired girl stood on the other side of the door as late opened it so Chloe could greet her first guest. The three girls had moved from the bomb site that was Chloe's temporary residence in Max's room to room 221 so that Chloe's friends wouldn't see what a mess Max's room was. Chloe had been too numb the day after it had happened to really do more than lie in Max's bed, but the next day she had been overcome with fury, fury at Nathan Prescott, at Blackwell, at Arcadia Bay, at the world and yes, at Max as well. She had thrown all of Max's belongings to the floor, spilling the boxes upon boxes of Polaroid photos across the floor. Not even Max's beloved camera had gotten away unscathed, though Chloe had the presence of mind to throw that on the bed along with Max's then dead laptop. A few hours later Chloe had picked the laptop up again and set it on the bed against the wall so she could sleep with videos of Max playing on a loop. As such, Victoria and Kate had insisted that Chloe's friends meet up in one of their rooms.  
“Steph?” Chloe replied, she hadn't seen Steph in years, save the quick few minutes they spent talking at the funeral so it was a bit of a shock to see her  
“How are you coping?” Steph asked, genuinely concerned about her friend’s wellbeing  
“I'm doing okay” Chloe replied quickly with a small smile  
“She's really not.” Victoria had interrupted, “She's so brave but we asked you to come here to help her. Being brave isn't always a great thing, Chloe needs her friends”  
“Ah, right on time!” Kate exclaimed, peering over Chloe's shoulder at the two guys standing in the still open doorway  
“Drew? Mikey? What are you two doing here?”  
“Visiting an old friend who's been through a shitty time in their life” Mikey replied, Drew smiled along with him and the two boys joined Chloe on Victoria’s bed. 

“Now everyone's here” Victoria began once Kate has rejoined them, “I thought it’d be a good idea for the boys and Steph to come visit, play that nerd game y’all liked so much”  
“The Tabletop Game?”  
“That's the one”  
“Callamastia has been missed” Steph mused.  
“We even have roles sorted out for the two of you” Mikey announced, “Kate, you're gonna be a cleric, and Victoria can be a noblewoman”  
“Uh okay?” both women acknowledged in unison

After a quick introduction to their version of the game, Steph started the campaign in her usual fashion, introducing the characters the group had created for themselves and, in Victoria and Kate's case, explaining about the characters some and how she thought they fitted in. The adventure started immediately after Duurgaron fell, Callamastia had used her new ability to save herself. Time-warp, an ability she has picked up from a warlock in secret to avoid Elamon's attack against Duurgaron. Steph raised an eyebrow at Chloe's sudden exclamation while Victoria and Kate shared a knowing look, small smirks playing on their faces. The blunette’s character had been injured in the attack but she was still alive, just. The entire premise of their campaign changed at that moment with Kate's cleric having to use her healing to keep Callamastia alive while they fled back to King Tiberius and more experienced healers, all the while Povel, Drew’s character and Elamon were fighting off raiding parties that had begun to assemble once Duurgaron had died. Victoria’s character had to eventually step in to save Elamon and Povel from an incredibly aggressive dwarf party whom she promptly beheaded for their disrespect of her friends. “I'm glad you found a way out of death... Again, Chloe” Steph commented

All three of the other girls burst into laughter at Steph's comment, the poor auburn-haired girl just stared at the three as if they'd grown an extra head each. “Chloe Price, constantly getting herself into trouble has, for once, found her own way out of it, with time travel no less” Victoria choked as she laughed  
Chloe nudged Victoria, also chuckling while Kate rolled her eyes trying to resist the urge to laugh more at her two best friends’ shared dark humor. “Uh... Are you two okay?” Steph asked  
“Yeah” Chloe wiped her eyes. Turning to Kate she added, “Sometimes the only way to keep your sanity is to laugh at shit like that” _and good god, the spaghetti monster in the sky would know that I’m trying sooo hard to keep my fucking sanity here after all of that shit Max talked about in her journal... Insane shit that would seem to be completely true_


	14. Grief

Still laughing and wiping their eyes, the three girls retreated back to Max's room once Steph and the boys had left. “Oh my goodness, I never realized you two had such a dark sense of humor” Kate remarked sarcastically  
“Oh dear, Vic. Kate's mastered sarcasm, it must be the end of days” Chloe looked at Victoria who could barely keep a straight face. Kate sighed and rolled her eyes. Max's bed was a mess, Chloe hadn't changed the sheets once since she had moved in.  
“Eww, girl. Change the bedsheets!” Victoria wrinkled her nose playfully  
“They smell of Max” Chloe countered  
“They _smelled_ of her. Past tense” Victoria replied with snark  
“Vic, play nice” Kate warned  
“Fine, fine, I'll do it” Chloe yanked on the blankets and they came off the bed in her hands while Kate grabbed fresh blankets from the closet. 

Five minutes later they had the bed changed and Victoria summoned Courtney to take care of the dirty bedding, much to Chloe's amusement. Courtney grumbled a fair amount when Victoria shoved the detergent that Max used in Courtney's hands, it wasn't the cheapest by any means but it wasn’t the expensive stuff that both Victoria and Courtney preferred. “And Chloe needs her hair touched up!!” Victoria bellowed after the retreating Courtney  
“Fine, fine!” Courtney made an effort to flee before Victoria could demand anymore from her  
Chloe, who had been busy trying to hold in her laughter began to cackle. “Best. Thing. Ever!!” she gasped between bouts of laughter  
“Vic... You should be nicer to her, she is your friend after all” Kate admonished quietly, reproachfully  
“Sorry, Katie” Both girls then turned to see Chloe who was bent over with laughter. “Though having said that, isn't it nice to see her like that” she indicated Chloe with a smile. Kate nodded quickly, not trusting herself to speak  
“Sorry, Katie” Chloe finally began to sober up. “It's been a long day, all I want now is a shower and a beer”  
“Sure. You go get a shower and I'll contact Lyla to get us some beers” Victoria replied, on the ball as usual  
“Make that a vodka, I just said goodbye to my best childhood friend, the friend that sacrificed her own life for mine” Victoria merely shrugged, she preferred vodka anyway

Chloe was stood in the shower when the first tears came. Kate was stood outside the stall and Chloe tried to remain strong, or at least silent but neither would pay ball with her that day and she let out a stifled sob. Kate stuck her hand through the curtain for Chloe to take if she wanted it, an action which the older girl immediately accepted, grasping on to Kate's hand and wracking with sobs. Kate's soothing barely impacting on the older girl's distress until suddenly the curtain was pulled back to a gasp from Kate and a squeak from Chloe. Victoria was stood there, still fully dressed and in her nicest cashmere sweater. The pixie blonde girl didn't even hesitate and stepped into the stall to wrap her arms around the grieving girl while Kate watched on with a slight red tinge to her cheeks, pinned in place by Chloe's firm grip on the blonde's hand. It was the first time she had seen Chloe or any girl naked. “Enjoying the view, Katie?” Victoria teased quietly, “oh and Price, you owe me a new cashmere”  
Chloe let out a sound halfway between a sob and a snicker and, with Victoria's gentle coaxing, began to calm down. Kate wasn’t much help, she was just a puddle of blushing mess  
_It really is amazing how much she changed from who she was into who she is now. Chloe's also hot. Wait what did I just think?_

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and reviews!!


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